***ADDITIONAL LOT*** RICHARD BULL (FL. 1777 - 1809)...
***ADDITIONAL LOT***
RICHARD BULL (FL. 1777 - 1809)
Portrait miniature of William Robert Fitzgerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, wearing the Order of St Patrick
Oil on ivory, oval, 6.5 x 5cm
Signed 'R. Bull' and dated 1791
William Robert Fitzgerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster (1749 - 1804) was an Irish politician and landowner.
As a member of parliament, he represented the borough of Kildare. On inheriting his father's title and estates in 1773, he retired from his position in the Irish House of Commons. He had been appointed High Sheriff of Kildare a year previously. His was aligned politically with Henry Grattan's Irish Patriot Party and he co-founded the Irish Whig Club in 1789. He was a supporter of Catholic Emancipation and helped to set up the Catholic Seminary in Maynooth.
From 1788 -89 he held the position of the Master of the Rolls in Ireland, an appointment which garnered much criticism as he was not a qualified lawyer. As philanthropist he was a significant investor in the Royal Canal company launched in 1790. A keen supporter of the arts, he helped to found the Royal Irish Academy in 1785.
In this portrait miniature of the Duke, he is presented half-length, dressed in formal regalia with his Order of St Patrick's star visible beneath the lapel of his blue coat. He was among the first knights to be appointed to the order in 1783. The composition is very similar to a well-known oil painting by the American artist Gilbert Stuart of William Robert Fitzgerald, sold in Christies auction in 2010, with the same blue coat and star of the order. This present work is of exceptional quality and detail executed by the Irish miniature painter Richard Bull.
Bull began his training in Dublin Society's School in 1769. He honed his skills as a miniature painter, exhibiting a collection of 'Miniatures in colour and hair' in 1780. An advertisement from 1786, lists him at Mr Edward Rice's, 13 Capel Street, producing "likenesses in miniature highly finished, at two guineas". Lacking significant patronage in Dublin, Bull moved to London and began exhibiting with the Royal Academy. Many of his sitters, during this time, were Irish, and presumably he painted this work of the Duke while in England.
Literature: A Dictionary of Irish Artists, Walter G. Strickland, pp. 125 - 126
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***ADDITIONAL LOT***
RICHARD BULL (FL. 1777 - 1809)
Portrait miniature of William Robert Fitzgerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, wearing the Order of St Patrick
Oil on ivory, oval, 6.5 x 5cm
Signed 'R. Bull' and dated 1791
William Robert Fitzgerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster (1749 - 1804) was an Irish politician and landowner.
As a member of parliament, he represented the borough of Kildare. On inheriting his father's title and estates in 1773, he retired from his position in the Irish House of Commons. He had been appointed High Sheriff of Kildare a year previously. His was aligned politically with Henry Grattan's Irish Patriot Party and he co-founded the Irish Whig Club in 1789. He was a supporter of Catholic Emancipation and helped to set up the Catholic Seminary in Maynooth.
From 1788 -89 he held the position of the Master of the Rolls in Ireland, an appointment which garnered much criticism as he was not a qualified lawyer. As philanthropist he was a significant investor in the Royal Canal company launched in 1790. A keen supporter of the arts, he helped to found the Royal Irish Academy in 1785.
In this portrait miniature of the Duke, he is presented half-length, dressed in formal regalia with his Order of St Patrick's star visible beneath the lapel of his blue coat. He was among the first knights to be appointed to the order in 1783. The composition is very similar to a well-known oil painting by the American artist Gilbert Stuart of William Robert Fitzgerald, sold in Christies auction in 2010, with the same blue coat and star of the order. This present work is of exceptional quality and detail executed by the Irish miniature painter Richard Bull.
Bull began his training in Dublin Society's School in 1769. He honed his skills as a miniature painter, exhibiting a collection of 'Miniatures in colour and hair' in 1780. An advertisement from 1786, lists him at Mr Edward Rice's, 13 Capel Street, producing "likenesses in miniature highly finished, at two guineas". Lacking significant patronage in Dublin, Bull moved to London and began exhibiting with the Royal Academy. Many of his sitters, during this time, were Irish, and presumably he painted this work of the Duke while in England.
Literature: A Dictionary of Irish Artists, Walter G. Strickland, pp. 125 - 126
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